In order to meet each customer’s individual demand, Trent solutions employs every core method for trenchless construction of water and gas pipelines, sewers, casing pipes, etc. The variety of technologies allows us to choose the most efficient and environmentally friendly solution for any demand and thus to minimize the use of digging. Our machine park includes various Horizontal Directional Drilling Rigs, Augers, Microtunneling Machines, Pneumatic Rammers.
HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
Horizontal directional drilling is a key trenchless method, used for drillings under roadways, railways, sewers, rivers etc. It allows the pipe to follow a pre-defined trajectory and enables its correction during the drilling, thanks to its accurate real-time tracking of the boring head. A special drilling fluid is used for this mehtod, which makes it very efficient in clay. It is also one of the best choices in terms of time, budget and flexibility. This method finds wide application worldwide for the installation of gas, water, sewer pipelines and cable protection, made of HDPE or steel, with a diameter from 100mm up to 1000mm or even more. In some cases, high tension cables can be installed directly.
The technology consists of three steps: pilot hole boring, conducted between a starting pit and an end pit with a previously chosen directory, pre-reaming and pullback. The piloting is guided with an electronic emitter – receiver system. The drilling fluid fluid is used through the whole process to cool and lubricate the equipment and to strengthen the hole. If necessary, a pre-reaming with a backreamer is carried out, in order to prepare the hole for the desired pipe diameter. At the end the pipe is pulled back from the end towards the starting pit.
AUGER BORING
This method applies to pipeline diameters from 168mm to 2000mm and the boring equipment comes in many different variations and sizes. Smaller machines are commonly used for installing new pipelines, launching from existing manholes or verry narrow starting pits, due to their compactness. An important advantage of the technology is that the pipe installation occurs simoultaneously with the boring itself, which minimizes the extraction of soil and the risk of collapsing. For achieving a higher precision of the boring, some machines are equipped with a laser directional system and offer the means to steer the pilot hole.
The machine consists of a cutting head, augers for transportation of the excavated soil from inside the pipe out and a hydraulic press. The pipeline is installed between a launching and an end pit in sections, one after the other. In the launching pit the machine, mounted on tracks thrusts the pipe and rotates the augers and the cutting head inside. The cutting head shreds the soil in front and forms a tunnel, in which the pipe installation follows. The soil, which is carried out of the pipe into the launching pit by the augers, is transported out of the pit with an excavator. After the first pipe section is installed the machine travels back to the rear end of its track, a new pipe section is mounted and the boring continues. The process is repeated until the cutting head reaches the end pit.
MICROTUNNELING
Microtunneling is a preferred method for the installation of sewer pipelines with a diameter of 250mm to 2500mm, when exact specified inclinations have to be achieved, best suited for gravity sewers. It also allows the pipeline installation along curved trajectories. Suitable pipe materials are steel, ceramic, fiberglass, polymer concrete.
The microtunneling machine is mounted on its track in the launching pit. The machine consists of a boring head, thrusting hydraulic press and a laser directional system, used for steering. The pipeline is installed in sections, one after the other. After the first pipe section is installed the machine travels back to the rear end of its track, a new pipe section is mounted and the boring continues. The boring head is equipped with a cutting shield, which rotates and shreads the soil, while forming a tunnel from the starting to the end pit. The soil, which is transported out through the head and the pipes into the launching pit, is transported out of the pit with an excavator.